Murdock waited.
“Skip, second floor. Those three men got out here and went down some service stairs. I’d guess heading out the back door.”
Murdock and Dobler left the reception desk, ran for the only back door they saw, and waited outside against the building. A service door opened fifty feet down the side of the structure. One man came out and looked around, then the other two left, and they walked toward where Murdock and Dobler hid behind some exterior machinery.
Murdock stepped out when the men were thirty yards away.
“Hold it,” Murdock barked. The three men stopped, then drew pistols and fired. Murdock and Dobler dove to the ground and kicked out two three-round bursts each from their MP-5s. The bullets caught all three men and put them on the ground. They dropped their handguns. By the time Murdock and Dobler moved up, two of them were dead. The third one rolled over and tried to fire his hideout gun. Murdock jolted three rounds into his chest, and he died with a scream.
Commander Alspaugh shook his head. “We can’t do it here. There’s a chance we can save his arm on the Enterprise. They have the experts who can do it. I’ll make the arrangements. Get him ready to travel on a litter. Now.”
The medic looked at Al Adams again. He was under heavy sedation. They had another three hours to get that arm attached, or it wouldn’t be possible.
The commander used the radio and told the hospital on the carrier that they were coming and to get ready to attach an arm. He wanted everything ready when the chopper landed on the deck.
Dr. Alspaugh took one more look at the other SEAL, Holt. He was awake, alert, and worried.
“I still can’t see, Doc. When do I get my eyesight back?”
“Holt, we can’t be sure. We’ve inspected the back of your eye, the retina. It doesn’t look damaged, but this is a touchy situation. You could blink once or twice a minute from now and your eyes be entirely back to normal.”
“Yeah, Doc, what’s the other side of it?”
“You already know that. You could be blind for life, but I really don’t expect that. I checked with our experts, and they say a mine doesn’t have that much of a flash effect. Its main thrust is with shrapnel. Which leads me to think that your eyes will be okay. I want you to get some more sleep. I’m going to order a mild sedative for you, then you have a good eight-hour nap.”
“Sure, Doc. Whatever you say. How is Adams? I heard he lost an arm.”
“We’re going to put it back on, if it all goes right. You just worry about resting those eyeballs of yours. I’ll check with you when I get back.”
“Yeah, Doc.”
Dr. Alspaugh watched the young man a moment. Amazing that he wasn’t dead. Taking the flash from that mine meant he had to be almost on top of it. Most of the shrapnel simply went around him rather than through him. He was hoping for the best.
Three hours later, on board the Enterprise, the medical team tried to relax. The attaching operation was over. Now they had to wait and see if everything worked right. Veins, arteries, nerves, tendons, all had to be reattached, sewn together. The two arm bones had shattered and had to be rebuilt and pinned with lengths of rods.
Two of the doctors on the team had done this type of attachment before. Dr. Alspaugh had assisted.
“Will it take?” he asked. “Will he be able to use the arm again?”
“There’s a good chance,” the senior surgeon said. “Everything went well. But we can’t tell for at least a week if the basic veins and arteries are working, then the muscles and the nerves. Somebody say he’s a SEAL?”
“Yes, he was on that Bahrainian landing,” Dr. Alspaugh said.
“The arm will never be as strong or as good as it was before, even with optimal recovery. Don’t tell him, but he’ll never be a SEAL again.”
Murdock called his men together in the parking lot at the airport and made a casualty check. His medic wasn’t there. There were no reports of any wounds or problems.
“Did Al Adams make it?” Fernandez asked.
“They kept him alive. Now they’re trying to attach his arm,” Murdock said.
“Either way, he’ll never be a SEAL again, will he?” Fernandez asked.
Murdock shook his head. “Not a chance. I just hope they get his arm put back and it’ll work.”
They saw a civilian van driving fast up the highway. It screeched around the corner, slowed as it came into the airport, then speeded up, heading directly at the SEALs. They scattered. The rig stopped and a Marine jumped out.
“Commander Murdock. Captain wants you guys up front, pronto. He says you all can fit in this van we liberated. Climb on board. He has some special work he needs done up front near the army GHQ. Some nasties in there don’t want to give up.”
“What about the casualties?”
“He said the Marines here could take care of them until the evac helos get here.”
“Load up, SEALs,” Murdock shouted. “The Marines need us up at the front.”
“What they need us for now?” Ching asked.
“Who knows. Something we can do, they can’t. Let’s go see.”
The thirteen SEALs crammed into the van with all their gear. It jolted out of the parking lot and drove three miles down the road through increasing numbers of buildings and houses. They came out on a city street with a large four-story building across from it. Murdock, riding in the front seat, saw Marines in cover all along the block. The van pulled in back of a small building halfway down an alley, and the SEALs piled out, ready to rumble.
Captain Browser came out of the building.
“Commander. We’re in a standoff here. We have the general penned in from this side. The B troops have him cut off to the rear. They finally got here about six hours late. I’ve talked with the general inside by phone. His English is better than mine. Oxford, I think. Anyway, he wants to negotiate.”
“Better than a frontal assault on the place.”
“Then there’s our directive not to harm any real estate if we can help it. Here we can help it and save the lives of a lot of Marines.”
“So, negotiate,” Murdock said.
“That’s the problem. He said he would negotiate only with an admiral or a general. I told him I was the highest-ranking Marine here. He kept off the phone for an hour. When he came back, he said he would negotiate with a U.S. Navy SEAL officer. Were there any with my forces? I told him.”
“So, I’m it?”
“Afraid so. No weapons. No hideout if you have one. You’ll strip to the waist, and they’ll check you out at the door.”
“What does he want?”
“He didn’t say.”
“When?”
“Right now. I’ll let you talk to him on the phone. Inside.” The two officers went into the small building and the captain handed Murdock a phone.
“General Nassar, this is U.S. Navy SEAL Commander Blake Murdock.”
There were some sounds over the line then a strong voice came on.
“Navy SEAL? Where did you train?”
“BUDS/S at Coronado, California, General.”
“Yes, yes, I had a tour of your facility there. I love the O Course. I want you to come now and talk. You have safe passage to the front door of the main entrance. Wear only your cammies, no hat, no weapons. Clear?”
“Yes sir, General Nassar. I’ll be there shortly.”
Murdock stripped out of his combat vest, took a hideout.25-caliber revolver and holster from his right ankle, and emptied his pockets of everything. He was clean.
He left his cammie shirt on and hiked down the alley to the street with the captain.